U.S. Central Command, politicians in Florida, New York, Texas and the Netherlands, and two prominent Jewish actors were among those who posted curious Passover messages.
William Shatner, of “Star Trek” fame, wished followers a happy Passover from his family. In the accompanying image, what looks like two layers of a cake (or perhaps three stout matzahs) rest on a cake plate in front of a 10-branched menorah that goes boldly where no Chanukah lamp has gone before.
Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) included an image of a menorah—this one with seven branches—in his Passover well wishes. Seven floppy-looking square matzahs peek out from under some sort of dried herb alongside more than half a dozen walnuts and a cup of wine.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) also shared an image for Passover with a seven-branch Chanukah menorah.
Walnuts figure into the Passover dish charoset, and there is an indication that some may include them on “alternate” seder plates, but they aren’t typically a part of the seder plate.
Jewish actor Adam Sandler’s Passover message included matzah, some flowers and several walnuts, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) posted a photo of a seder plate with walnuts as did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
The pro-Israel Dutch politician Geert Wilders shared a Passover greeting with some peculiar items on the seder plate, but not nearly as unusual as the items on the seder plate in a post from U.S. Central Command, which is part of the Pentagon.
In its six visible compartments, the CENTCOM seder plate contains a walnut shell, shelled walnuts, an egg, chickpeas, a drumstick and some sort of leafy vegetable, perhaps collard greens.
Per 2020 Pew Research Center data, 62% of U.S. Jews reported having held or attended a Passover seder the prior year, which was more than other Jewish holidays.
